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Food stamp aid drops with the start of November

Food stamp aid drops with the start of November

The Louisiana EBT ( Electronic Benefits Transfer) Card is called the Louisiana Purchase Card. It is like a bank debit card that holds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and/or Cash benefits that are deposited into one's EBT account each month.

Most of the nearly 388,000 households in Louisiana that receive food stamps will be hit with a drop in their aid Friday, when a temporary boost in the federal benefits disappears.

The reduction is estimated to be anywhere from $11 to $43 or more each month, depending on how many people live in the household. That’s about a 5 percent reduction, according to the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services.

The federal stimulus bill passed by Congress in 2009 temporarily increased the maximum amount of food stamp aid that a household could receive. The increase falls away at the start of November.

DCFS spokesman Trey Williams didn’t have an exact figure of how many Louisiana food stamp recipients will get an aid cut, saying it would affect most recipients.